


The Mysterious Disappearance of Four Friends: Which of Course Wasn't Due to Anything that Happened in Rome

by JaysNarnia, Lissamel



Category: Homestuck, Malice - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blood, Humanstuck, Multi, Pester Logs, Rituals, Where a comic book sucks in 4 kids and it's really scary and violent, Wounds, more to come later - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-11
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2017-12-26 06:53:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/962897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaysNarnia/pseuds/JaysNarnia, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lissamel/pseuds/Lissamel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU set in the same time the novel Malice is taking place. Where the four beta kids get drawn into the malicious comic book Malice and have to fight their way out of it. The only way out is a white ticket of freedom, which a quite rare. The world of Malice is a large dangerous puzzle. Can John, Rose, Dave, and Jade escape it? Or will the mysterious figure Tall Jake claim their lives instead? A side of romantic angst will be added to the mix, to make their quest even harder. (You don't need to read the book before reading this)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue--The Mysterious Artifact

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is our second ongoing fanfic Lissa and I are making! Along with Homestuck, we're having a crossover with the wonderful books Malice and Havoc. To set things straight, you don't have to read Malice or Havoc before reading this fan-fiction since we are providing enough knowledge for you to understand what's going on. Please enjoy the story!

Prologue--The Mysterious Artifact

ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG]  
GG: hi john! :D  
EB: hey jade, what’s going on? anything new or interesting happening over summer break?  
GG: well if you count surfing and hanging out with karkat interesting or new then totally  
GG: but other than that it’s been pretty much the same!!  
EB: well at least you get sun 24/7 there! i have to deal with a gloomy sky over in the middle of washington.  
EB: the only sun i get is when me and dad go on our annual camping trip for two weeks straight.  
EB: just two city slickers fighting for survival.  
EB: and cake.  
EB: lots of cake.  
GG: oh wow! that sounds really fun!  
EB: trust me, after the fourth slice you will most definitely be caked out.  
GG: heheheh well other than cake and camping trips  
GG: you’re totally coming to my home in like a week!!!!  
GG: this is going to be so super awesome i can’t wait to see you guys!! :D  
EB: i know! it’s going to be great! me, you, rose, and dave, all sharing one huge mansion with your grandpa.  
GG: don’t forget bec!  
EB: of course i wouldn’t forget him jade. who do you take me for? dave?  
GG: heheh yeah  
GG: he’s going to be so annoyed with bec when he comes over  
GG: but too bad so sad dave!!!  
GG: bec is the best dog a girl could ask for!  
GG: good dog best friend! :)

And it goes on from there. Your name is John Egbert, and you’re totally psyched to visit Jade’s private island in Hawaii. Reflecting on it, it seems like almost all of your friends are pretty well off. Jade with her super rich grandpa, Rose with her semi-famous scientist mom, and Dave with his bro that has a multi-millionaire puppet porn company. You seem to have some pretty weird friends.  
But anyways--about the whole trip to Hawaii! From the young age of eleven, Jade, Dave, Rose and you had an annual get together. Each one was planned at a different house (it usually ended up at your or Rose’s home, since Dave lived in a shitty apartment and Jade’s was filled with wild and dangerous animals) and every time you guys got together, it was the best experience in the world. But by the age of fourteen, you all became busy with personal issues: your Dad had some health issues; Jade was busy with surfing competitions; Dave with whatever Dave does; Rose with world traveling. So now, two years later, you all decided it was time to get together again. Skype was nice and all, but it wasn’t the same, and you all missed each other dearly. Some more than others...but you wouldn’t breach that topic right now.  
Rose was currently on a trip in Italy with her mom and girlfriend. Rome was apparently quite nice this time of year, or so the postcard said with delicate lavender cursive. You were always a bit jealous about how Rose got to experience other cultures and countries, while the farthest you went was Canada. But you won’t talk about Canada. Neither you or your Dad will discuss Canada ever again.  
You’re now currently in your room, twiddling your thumbs as you chat away with Jade. Her excitement for the trip is really rubbing off on you, and you just can’t contain how pumped you are for this trip! You haven’t seen any of your friends in such a long time--you wonder what they look like now. You especially wonder what a certain someone looks like now, but you aren’t thinking about it! Shut up John, you’re not making it better for yourself. 

GG: so  
GG: are you excited to see dave???? :o  
EB: shut up.

You somehow made the delightful mistake about telling both your female friends about the crush you were harboring for your best bro. It really sucked when they looked at you in pity when Dave went on and on about relationship problems in school. Dave was pretty oblivious to the whole thing, or he didn’t look too much into the looks. Which you were secretly grateful for. 

GG: jeez!!  
GG: no need to be such a fucking grumpy gills on me john!! >:(  
EB: wow, maybe you shouldn’t be dating karkat?  
EB: you were so much nicer.  
GG: shut up fuckass i can swear if i want to!  
EB: ok, god. just, really, i don’t want to talk about it.  
EB: i’ll most likely get over it sometime.  
EB: as much as i’m into the guy, he’s sort of a tool.  
EB: and obviously he’s not into me.  
GG: well what makes you say that?  
EB: wouldn’t he have said something then otherwise?  
GG: maybe not!  
GG: maybe if you weren’t being such a pansy about the whole thing maybe you could find out!!  
GG: what a concept!  
GG: asking out the person you like!!!!  
GG: a doi!  
EB: well it’s not that easy jade!  
EB: we’re kinda like entrenched in the friend zone.  
EB: we’re stuck in it like two explorers in quicksand and there isn’t a rope that we can climb out of it.  
GG: dave’s way better at making long winded metaphors than you are john  
GG: just saying  
EB: yeah yeah, i know.  
EB: i guess he rubs off on you after a while, you know?  
GG: than you have no right to criticize me on my swearing do you!!  
GG: mr. fucking hypocrite!!!! :P  
EB: oh can it jade!  
GG: fiiiiiiiine!!!!!  
GG: but just promise me you’ll talk to him about it  
GG: please????  
GG: pretty please with sprinkles on top!!!!!  
EB: bluh.  
GG: pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease john!!!  
EB: fine i will, i guess.  
GG: yay!! :D thanks john!!  
GG: you’re the bestest ever!  
EB: uhuh, right.  
EB: what makes you think that dave wouldn’t be interested?  
GG: well i know for a fact he doesn’t care about gender.  
GG: i’m pretty sure he explained it as “as long as you have a fly booty and i dig you youre alright”  
GG: i’m sorta paraphrasing there of course  
EB: right.  
EB: i guess that makes sense.  
GG: i promise it’ll work out in the end john!  
GG: just have faith!

Then you both go onto normal banter and happy conversations. But, in the pit of your stomach, you’re dreading the promise you made to Jade. Jeopardizing your friendship? God, you couldn’t dream of it!  
You don’t talk to her much later, she was going surfing with some friends, and you let her be. Just as you were about to log off and try to program some cool stuff (and fail at it miserably) Rose pesters you. 

tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB]  
TT: Hello, John.  
TT: I must inform you of an interesting artifact I found during my travels in Rome. Obviously I won’t see you all until the third day you are at Jade’s island, but these are pressing matters that have popped up.  
EB: oh, hey rose!  
EB: and please, do tell.  
TT: Just to clarify, I am telling you since you enjoy the arts of paranormal lore, and enjoy a good myth.  
TT: It seems today, one has come true.  
EB: sounds interesting, please continue rose!  
TT: I must ask before I continue.  
EB: yeah?  
TT: John, have you ever heard of the comic book, Malice?  



	2. Chapter 1--The Looming Darkness and Mountain Lions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John finally flies out to Jade's island and a surprise happens at the end.

 

**Chapter 1--The Looming Darkness and Mountains Lions**

The flight from Seattle to Honolulu was mostly boring. The pretzels were stale and, from the various mutterings from others around you, the peanuts weren’t better. Apparently the peanuts were barely salted. Suck it, peanuts, the pretzels had salt.

As you stared out the window into the clouds and did your best to ignore obnoxious snoring from the other end of the plane, your mind floats to that comic that Rose was speaking of. No, in fact, you had not heard of _Malice_ , but Rose was quick to fill you in. Apparently it really only circulated copies of the actual thing in the UK, but some street vendor in Rome smuggled some over (this didn’t sound shady at all, you had remarked) and she was able to purchase herself a copy. The art was good, so she said, though there appeared to be no overarching plot. Rather, it was a bunch of mini-stories that followed no set structure and usually had creepy settings and people (or other such things) surrounding them. You didn’t really see the appeal, but then Rose actually got into a long-winded discussion about the mythos and things slowly got more interesting. Apparently it was some sort of urban legend that the comic characters were some kids that were kidnapped and/or killed and based off those ‘missing person’ reports in the newspapers. And, even more apparently, there was some kind of demon summoning or some shit you could do to get yourself _in_ those missing person reports. That is to say, you could ask yourself to be kidnapped and taken into the comic.

Of course, Rose was careful to remind you, this was all allegedly. Because, after all, nobody could really confirm any urban legends. So don’t go doing anything stupid. You said you wouldn’t; after all, what did she take you for? An idiot? But you had to admit, it sounded creepy. Cool, interesting, something you would totally tell Jade and Dave about, but very creepy.

With your thoughts floating between the in-flight movie, _Malice_ , seeing Dave and Jade again but mostly seeing Dave and how that cloud totally looked like George Washington’s hair, you hardly noticed the time go by as the plane descended. Your thoughts slowly snapped back to reality. You returned your tray to it’s upright position and waited until the plane landed, a smile crossing your face. The moment had finally come.

You exit the plane and are guided around by the people obediently walking to the conveyor belt in which the luggage would slide out. You watch it, turning slowly, looking at the bags with their bland beige coloring and obnoxious flower prints and those looking like they were obviously part of a twenty-piece luggage set and those that were a greenish-blue color and looked faded and worn because of how many times it’d been in the rain from those camping trips--Hey, that one was yours! You grab the faded bag and yank it closer to you, making sure not to bump anyone. You begin shuffling away since you promised you’d meet Dave, and Jade would be here soon and you didn’t want to waste a second in seeing your best friends (even if, secretly, you wanted one to be more than that).

Someone sneaks up from behind and punches your shoulder lightly.

“Yo, you’re really shitty at hide-and-seek, John. Look, I’ll count this time, ‘kay?”

You laugh, turning around to see Dave, who doesn’t have a suitcase but just crammed everything into a backpack somehow. He’s smirking, as usual, looking at you like you’re some kind of dweeb. “Dude,” he goes on, “I was totally fucking saying your name for, like, twenty minutes. Are you deaf or something?”  
“What?” You say, and he looks like he’s about to repeat the question before he pauses, frowns, and punches you again. You laugh and begin leading the way, weaving your way though the people and making sure Dave stays behind you and doesn’t leave to get, you don’t know, vending machine food. “Uh, Rose said she’ll be coming a bit late, since she’s in--”

“Rome. You’re not the only one who gets fucking updates on Rose, dude. What is she, your girlfriend?”

You laugh, shaking your head. “No, Dave, I don’t have the hots for Rose.”

“Good. I didn’t want you to engage in hot island sex.”

“Dave, she’s a lesbian.”

“Maybe she’s actually bi. Don’t judge.”

You roll your eyes and you attempt to punch Dave like he punched you before. You don’t bother to turn around, though, so it’s more like you’re batting your fist around and not hitting anything.

“You’re really fucking lame, John.”

“Shut up.”

You both make it to the airport lobby, the sun brightly illuminating the room. Honolulu sure was sunny, far better than Washington. You plop down in a plastic chair facing the door so you can look for Jade, and Dave takes up the chair next to you. “So, hey, I have to tell you about something Rose found!”

“What, gelato? It’s fucking Italy, John. There’s a fuckton of pizza and pasta and gelato and fat men singing about moons hitting your fucking eye. Also boats. Lots of boats in Italy.”

You smirk. “No, Dave, it’s not stereotypes. It’s a comic book.”

“...What, _seriously?_ That’s fucking lame. Also Rose doesn’t read comics. I don’t know what she reads, probably really dry books about lame shit, probably by that guy who did that book about France that became a fucking dumb play. _Less Miserable_ , which, ironically, I am when I’m not watching _Less Miserable_.”

“ _Les Miserables_ , Dave. And stop distracting me!”

“Fine, fine, Jesus. Just saying, it’s miserable, and I’m significantly less.”

You ignore his taste in punning works that aren’t even about Italy. “No, it’s a comic. And it’s called _Malice_ and it’s about this creepy place a bunch of kids go through and sometimes they die but sometimes not.”

He tilts his sunglasses down so you can see the disapproving look he’s giving you. “John, that sounds fucking stupid.”

“Um, she explained it better. But apparently you can do this demon summoning and become a character in it!”

“That sounds even stupider. Sounds like something she’d be into. Dead people and demons. I don’t get people who like demons, they’re fucking stupid. I mean, what the fuck are they good for? Sexing people up? Killing people by, I dunno, taking their heart? Fucking stupid. Demons are dumb and people who like them are dumb. I’m fairly certain the whole cast of _Less Miserable_ are demons. Only reason it’s the stupidest shit on the planet.”

You can’t help but chuckle at Dave’s tangent. He hadn’t changed a bit. “Come on, doesn’t it sound a little cool? Evil places and stuff! Danger and adventure! It’d be fun.”

He shrugs lightly, pushing his sunglasses back up. “Eh. Maybe, sure. But really, demon rituals tied to comics? That’s still fucking stupid.”

“You never know, Dave. Maybe demon worships are fun!”

“...You’ve gotta be fucking shitting me.”

You laugh. “I am, I am.”

“Good. No friend of mine is becoming a satanist. I’m sure they’re all scary. Or emo. Probably both.”

“Emo people aren’t satanists, Dave!”

“How do you know? It explains their haircuts. Only Satan could invent something so terrible. They’re like Satan’s number-one homies with those fucking haircuts.”

You have officially learned that Dave doesn’t like French novels turned plays, demons, and emos. And possibly satanists. You’ve learned important things today. You’re about to say something else when someone rushes up to you two, crossing her arms. “You guys! I’ve been waving out the window for, like, ten minutes! The least you could do is look up.”

It’s Jade, who sounds grumpy but she’s smiling. You laugh awkwardly, standing up and grabbing your bag. “Ehehe, sorry, Jade. We were kinda talking about…”

“Satanists, emos, comics, demons, and other stupid shit.” Dave said, giving a nicely abridged version of the previous conversation. Jade raises an eyebrow, but you chuckle and say, “Uh, I’ll recap you. So, which gate leaves for your island?”

She pauses, cocking her head, and then laughs. She shakes her head, turning on her heel and calling over her shoulder, “None of them! C’mon!”

You and Dave shoot a look at one another. Dave shrugs. “Maybe she has a jetpack outside for us.”

You two follow her outside the airport, looking around the sunny skies and palm trees all around (which you find particularly interesting, seeing as the only palm trees in Washington were plastic and lurking right in front of your dentist’s office in an attempt to make it look more ‘cool’) until Jade stops. “Here she is, boys!”

And then your jaw drops.

On a nice strip of land somewhere near the airport is an airplane. Of course it isn’t one of the sleek jets you just flew in on, rather, it’s one of those planes every good action hero has, old-fashioned and open-topped and possessing a propeller. Jade’s beaming at it, making a quick little ‘ta-da!’ pose upon seeing your stunned expression.  
“We’re...Taking that?” You say slowly.

“Well, duh!” She laughs, walking up to the plane and rummaging in the driver’s compartment, coming up with three pairs of aviator goggles. “Put these on, boys! I’m driving!”  
“Oh, boy. You got a license for these things, missy? Some parachutes in case you crash into some ducks or some shit?” Dave snarks, snatching a pair of the goggles and taking off his sunglasses so he can stick him in his backpack. “Because I’m not fucking dying because some little girl can’t drive her airplane. Can you even drive a car?”

She chuckles. “Who needs cars? Don’t be such a pussy, Dave.”

“Just sayin’, my obituary better be cool. Like, ‘Dave Strider: Died while firing himself off a rocket into an erupting volcano.’ That’s cool. Good story to tell my ghost friends. Unlike ‘Dave Strider: Died because some girl can’t fly a fucking plane.’”

“Well, no worries, you won’t seem lame to your ghost friends.” She rolls her eyes, tossing a pair of goggles at you before hopping into the driver’s seat. You fumble a bit but find they do neatly fit over your glasses. You walk over to one of seats and, seeing as Dave has already claimed the one in the middle, you’re forced to take the last one. “Um, you’re not gonna be taken down by air trafficking, right?”

She ties her long, dark hair back and slips on a pilot cap, now completing her female-action-hero look. “Oh, John, don’t worry! Grandpa talked it all over with everyone and it’s totally cool for me to be flying! Buckle up, everyone!” And with that last declaration, she’s revving up the propeller and driving down that strip of land and then you’re in the air.  
This flight is a whole lot louder then the jet ride to Honolulu. And, considering Jade likes doing sudden swerves and laughs every single time, a lot more potentially dangerous. You find yourself unable to look at the water below in slight fear she’ll just divebomb down and give no fucks about it. Jade was intense. “ARE YOU SURE THIS IS SAFE?” You shout, in hopes Jade will hear you.

She does. “OF COURSE!” She shouts back, “STOP BEING SO WHINY! I’M NOT PLANNING TO KILL YOU GUYS!”

That’s...Not comforting at all. You keep a firm look at the clouds, one of which looks, interestingly, like the head of Jade’s dog. You do not think about what kind of rollercoaster moves Jade wants to do with this plane. Except you do, a lot.

And then the plane lands and you suddenly feel like a fucking wuss for even thinking she would divebomb the sea. It skids to a stop, the propeller slowing on the homemade runway she and her grandpa probably made because they were bored and he possessed a plane. She laughs, hopping out and chucking the cap and goggles back in. “Welcome home!”

You and Dave get out and observe Jade’s island, taking off your goggles and picking up your bags. Unlike the rest of civilized Hawaii, it’s feral, lush with overgrown vegetation and bright sunshine streaming through leaves. You didn’t even know half these things _grew_ in an around-Hawaii area! Her house is near the runway, and it’s tall and wrapped in vines, almost part of the island in and of itself. “This is really cool.” You find yourself admitting.

“It’s nothing special.” She chuckles, but you detect a hint of pride in her voice. “Well, don’t just stand here! C’mon in, slowpokes!”

“Jesus, Harley let a man get some sunglasses.” Dave remarks, fumbling around his bag before finding his shades and slipping them on. “Can’t let any of the mountain lions in this fucking jungle thinking I’m a dork. They always eat the dorks first. But the cool guys? We get it off easy. Yo, mountain lions! How you doin’? Eat some gazelle lately? Maybe a poodle? Some babies? Cool, cool. Mountain lions, man, if it moves, they eat them.”

You can’t help but laugh at Dave’s questionable knowledge of a mountain lion’s diet. “They eat the dorks first, Dave?”

“Whoops, I spilled the beans.” He shrugs, walking off towards Jade’s house. “You’re pretty much dead meat to mountain lions, John. Good luck.”

“Gee, thanks.” You deadpan, but quickly go after them, not wanting to be left behind next to the airplane and possibly-but-implausibly mountain lion-filled jungle. Jade throws open the door and you’re treated to a nice parlor, with a fireplace, sofas that sure do look comfy, and the heads of taxidermied animals staring at you from every wall. Yeah, seems like the place Jade and her grandpa would live in. You’re about to go off, either exploring her home or just to find out where Jade wants you to stick your bags, when a large white dog appears right in front of you, checking you out, sniffing you down.

“Uh…” You slowly attempt to pet the dog. “Hey, you’re Bec, right? Good dog. Shh.” Your hand touches fur on his head and he growls low.

“Bec!” Jade huffs. “It’s just my friends, they’re okay!” As though on cue, the dog relaxes, wagging his tail and allowing you to scratch behind his ears. You smile. “Dave, pet the dog! He’s nice!”

Dave looks away. “That thing could fucking rip my throat out. You sure it’s not, like, some kind of albino wolf?”

“It _is_ a wolf-husky mix…” Jade mentions.

“Oh, even _better_. It is a wolf. Of fucking course. Hey, when it morphs into a man in the full moon like some sort of reverse werewolf, tell me, m’kay?”  
She huffs. “My dog is _not_ a reverse werewolf!”

“You say that now, but soon it’ll happen, shit’ll hit the fan, and you’ll wish you listened to Dave Strider’s wise advice.” He glances around, purposely avoiding looking at the dog. “So, hey, where do we set our packs?”

“Oh!” She pulls away from Bec and begins leading the way again, beckoning and escorting you two somewhere. “You can just set ‘em in my room, okay? Follow me.”

You’re both led through the parlor, into the kitchen, and into a small room containing a spiral staircase. You’re lead up and, passing a few other rooms in the process, are escorted to Jade’s bedroom. It’s covered in Squiddle posters and posters of strange animal-human mashups and other such quirky things you could reason Jade liked. Three actually very nice-looking sleeping bags are on the floor, all set up for you, Dave, and eventually Rose. You put your bag next to one of the sleeping bags, as does Dave, since it doesn’t seem to matter which one either of you had. Jade plops on her bed, the sheets and comforter white and decorated in blue patterns, as she beams. “So glad we’re having it at my place this time! It was pretty boring always going to John’s or Rose’s.”

“We didn’t show up because of you wolf dog and fucking mountain lions.” Dave deadpans, taking a look around the room and smirking every time he saw a drawing tacked on Jade’s wall that he obviously drew for her.

“There’s still no mountain lions, Dave.” She frowns. “There’d have to be _mountains_ to have _mountain lions_. That is why they’re called _mountain lions_.”

“Magical volcano lions. They can control fire. Shit, we’re doomed.” He manages to say this in such a way that he doesn’t seem like an insane madman. “They’re gonna come in the night and attack us all. It’s gonna be like that one show that doesn’t have the blue cat people but has the same name as it. That movie was bad too, by the way. Not as bad as _Less Miserable_ , but still fucking awful. Like, why is it an environmentalist flick? Those died in the nineties. Fuck environmentalists. They’re probably satanists too.”

You suppress the urge to demonstrate the meaning of the word ‘defenestration’ using the coolkid in front of you. It’s hard. You could use a good vocab demonstration and he just looks so _throwable_. But you don’t. Come on, you like Dave, and dating someone who could end up paralyzed and/or dead because you threw him out a window may be awkward.

“I _like_ environmentalists.” Jade’s eyelids lower. “And _Avatar_.”

“Oh fuck. Jade’s a satanist. We’re gonna have to burn her. Or weigh her. You’re a witch if you’re a satanist, right? And witches weigh the same as ducks, so we weigh you and then burn you. You got matches?”

“You’re not gonna burn me!” She huffs, getting up, and the two engage in the most aggressive brawl that only consists of swatting each other like pussies you’ve ever had the honor of witnessing.

You’re watching this brawl intensely, making bets with yourself on the winner (money’s on Jade) and generally laughing at your friends, when a sound comes out of your pocket.  
You’d put a lot of custom ringtones on your phone a while back. Set individual ones for all of your main contacts. The _Ghostbusters_ theme, Nicolas Cage saying dumb sentences, the phrase ‘over the shoulder boulder holder’ that Dave is proud to say is uttered whenever he calls John. But this one was his texting theme, something that sounded like ‘aku-uka’ or something. You know, that sound Crash Bandicoot makes when he collects three masks and can become invincible for a while. And that’s what you heard now. Craning an eyebrow at who this could be, you pull out the phone and check the message.

TO: John Egbert  
FROM: Rose Lalonde

Dear John,

I am informing you of a decision that you might think that’s “dumb” on my part. But, I cannot get the comic out of my head. After opening the comic once, I was haunted by the realistic faces and emotions emanating from these “comic characters.” So I decided to delve further into the research of Malice. Kanaya and Mother think I’m getting too...well, obsessed with this whole idea, but I think it’s nonsense. Nonetheless...I am doing the ritual. The saying “seeing is believing” plays into this very much, and I must know for a fact whether this is real or not. So I am telling you about it. You will be the only one to know about my endeavors; Kanaya would for sure have a cow, not to mention how Mother would act. If I do not arrive on time, know this: I will be trapped in Malice. It’s where you will sadly have to make the decision we both know you’ll make. You’ll go in after me. But, before you do this, please understand that Malice--If it is real, is a dangerous place. I wish you the best of luck if things do not go my way. Goodbye John.

-Rose

You didn’t expect this.

You expected your father to ask you how you are. You expected Rose to say she was packing, she’d be there soon. You expected Dave’s older brother saying Dave forgot his phone on purpose so Bro couldn’t send annoying pictures to him, so now all the annoying pictures were going to you, sorry.

But...This?

Jade and Dave seemed to notice you weren’t interested in their girly fight, as the tell-tale sounds of them hitting each other dimmed. Out of the corners of your eyes, you see them walk up and lean over to look at the message. There’s a long pause as everyone gets caught up on Rose’s decision. And then Jade speaks.

“John...What’s _Malice_?”

“It’s...A…” Your voice is slow and disjointed because you’re so goddamn worried. What the fuck was Rose getting herself into!?

But luckily for you, Dave fills in. “It’s a comic book with a demon cult around it and Rose decided, ‘fuck it, I’m a cultist now’.”

You want to hate Dave for making such a serious situation so lighthearted. But you can’t. So you attempt to explain it slightly better for Jade. “...It’s this comic book Rose found. And...And she wants to see if those myths are true.”

You pause as both Jade and Dave look up at you. The phone’s screen dims, then goes black. And then you say, very slowly, “She’s going to be kidnapped.”

 

~

All things considered, you, Rose Lalonde, were a very lucky girl.

Not because your mother had enough money for a nice trip to Rome, Italy, and allowed you to bring both your perfect, darling girlfriend and your adorable cat along. But that was lucky.

Not because you happened, while taking pictures of your adorable cat, to find a street vendor of foreign objects who just so happened to have black waxy pouches, marked with a pointed ‘M’ inside a pentagon. But that was part of it.

Not because you bought two copies of the comic and became so interested in it’s dark nature that you did buckets of research, even finding a small internet forum that informed you of the ritual itself. But that helped a lot.

And most certainly not because you had a cat to take some hair from, a city to find twigs and crow feathers in, working tear ducts, and hair. And a small complimentary bowl the hotel put soaps and the like in. But you liked the convenience of that.

No, no.

You, Rose Lalonde, were a very lucky girl because your mother was out at a wine-tasting, your girlfriend was asleep, and you were about to be as well.  
And he didn’t waste any time in taking you away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Another chapter done, which is quite on time for us. Heheh, but anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this update. These chapters are intentionally longer than normal chapters, or well normal chapters for us. Please don't forget to kudos, bookmark and comment. Especially comment! Comments are great and you should send them! Well tata for now, and we'll see you soon! (Please look at our other fanfiction, Heartbeat if you enjoy this!)  
> -JaysNarnia


	3. Chapter 2--Environmentalist Flicks and Demon Summoning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John, Dave, and Jade do some island things! And then things occur!

 

**Chapter 2--Environmentalist Flicks and Demon Summoning**

Of course, you were just being silly.

Or, at least, that’s what Jade and Dave kept telling you. There was no such thing as a demonic ritual that could send someone into a comic book. Rose was just preoccupying herself with her fascination of the grim and the occult, so of course she’d buy into an urban legend like that. Besides, as Dave elegantly phrased it, you’d have to be a fucking moron to do something like that, and Rose wasn’t a fucking moron. And you were inclined to believe them…

...If it weren’t for that sinking feeling in your stomach that said this had to be real.

But you ignored it and bought into the fact that Rose was just going to be...Late. Yes, that’s right. Late. Her plane was delayed and she’d never get to Jade’s island in time, so she was just going to be late. No comics. No rituals. No Malice. Everything would be absolutely peachy-keen in the end, you’d see.

Jade and Dave did everything in their power to get your mind off of it. The three of you decided to bake some cupcakes from scratch, since Jade’s house had a significant lack of cupcakes, and eventually it turned into a flour-throwing war. After a lot of bickering you all watched a movie, which Jade decided she got to pick on account of she wanted to annoy Dave some more. With that sound logic, it was no surprise she picked _FernGully_. Dave loudly complained through the whole movie, and then you all obnoxiously sang along to evil Tim Curry smog cloud’s villain song. So that went over well. Then you all went to bed in Jade’s room where you talked incessantly about nothing until you all just sort of passed out.

The first day was fine, of course, but it was on the _second_ day that deluding yourself about Rose wasn’t working.

You couldn’t let it bother you, though. Everyone else wasn’t bothered by this _obviously_ fictional thing that could not happen to one of your friends, so it shouldn’t bother you too! Haha, right! Rose was probably on the plane right now, with her girlfriend and her mom and her cat and a fuckton of pictures of her cat in different locations. She would be here any day now! Stop worrying, John. She was fine. She was fine? Fine! Most certainly fine.

She totally wasn’t going to be fine.

Jade decided to take the two of you on an exclusive jungle-island tour, and after handing the two of you some of her backup hunting rifles (“Grandpa would _kill_ me if I don’t.”) you embark into the wilderness that is her island. It’s not filled with a plethora of mountain lions, like Dave may have thought. If he’s disappointed, he doesn’t show it. What there _is_ is a lot of vegetation, and very few horrific jungle monsters--Wait what was that. There was totally something there! You shoot the rifle a few times, startling both Jade and Dave, and causing Bec to run off in the general direction of your gunshots. Jade groans and runs after her dog, insisting that it was nothing, and you were just spooked, that was all.

As it turns out, you managed to shoot what looked kind of like a goose but was bigger than a goose. You don’t ask _what_ it is and accept the fact that Jade’s island has animals that should not exist. She’s a bit surprised you actually shot something, but is content with it, and slings the dead maybe-possibly-not-goose over her shoulder and begins trotting back to the house.

You eat dinner and watch another movie just because the last one went over so well. Today’s pick is also an animated environmentalist flick, _Once Upon a Forest_ , which has that guy that was the Phantom of the Opera once in it as...A badger? Once again Dave loudly complains through the whole thing, but this time there’s no Tim Curry smog cloud to sing along with. Shame, really. More movies could use a Tim Curry smog cloud.

It’s on the third day that you give up deluding yourself.

“Guys, I’m pretty sure Rose isn’t coming.” You say over a breakfast bowl of Froot Loops.

Dave shakes his head. “Don’t tell me you _still_ think Rose has been absorbed by a goddamn comic book.”

“Well, we haven’t heard from her in a while--”

“Her plane was probably just delayed, John.” Jade rolls her eyes slightly at you, scooping some more Froot Loops into her mouth. After a pause to chew and swallow, she goes on, “It’s a long way from Rome to Hawaii. She’s been gone only, what, two days? That’s not a suitable timeframe to immediately blame evil comic books.”

You frown at your slowly-getting-soggy cereal. Logically, she was right. But still… “Can someone just text her?”

“Got that covered.” Dave whips out his phone and begins tapping out a text message, reading it as he typed it, “Yo, Rose, John’s being a goddamn conspiracy theorist and thinks you’re in an evil comic book. Prove him wrong here.” He smirks a bit as he sends it and sets the phone down on the table with flourish. “There.”

For a moment, you all stare at the phone. Then you go back to your cereal because staring at the phone won’t get you anywhere. When breakfast is done, you all put your bowls in the sink and Rose still hasn’t replied. It hasn’t exactly been long, but _still_ …

Dave picks his phone back up and looks at it, frowning a little. Apparently he expected Rose to reply faster than that, too, but he shakes it off. “Fucking time zones. She’s probably still asleep or something.”

“See John, she’s just asleep. She’ll be here.” Jade idly smooths her hair and begins hopping upstairs. “C’mon! There’s still plenty of island to explore!”

Dave goes off after her, but you’re still hesitant. Time zones or no time zones, you just couldn’t shake this feeling. What if Rose really was there, in Malice? You weren’t too afraid for her well-being--Rose was more than capable of fending for herself, after all--But still, who knew what was in there? From Rose’s description of the one issue she found, it sounded like a horribly dangerous place where _everything_ was out to kill you. But you couldn’t just let one text message prove that. Ever so slowly, you go up the stairs and get dressed, ready for another crazy island tour and more animals that could not logically exist.

It’s about two in the afternoon and Rose still hasn’t replied, and that’s when you give up.

“I’m telling you guys, she’s not responding! How do we know it _hasn’t_ happened?”

You’re all in the living room after an intense island tour, in which you all saw something like a wolf but maybe it wasn’t a wolf, with blood around the mouth. Wisely, none of you decided to even attempt at slaying it, and you all ran away like pussies. Now you decided to do something...Tamer. Like Monopoly. Yes, a good, wholesome game of Monopoly.

“Because it’s a fucking stupid idea?” Dave snickered, rolling the dice and moving his top hat seven spaces. Waterworks. Fuck. He dished out the money to Jade, who took it with a smug look on her face. “I mean, John, you do realize how dumb you sound? ‘Oh, Rose hasn’t replied to one text, _obviously_ she’s in an evil comic book and is gonna _die_!’ Seriously, dude.”

Well, yeah, when he put it that way it did indeed sound like you should be admitted to a psych ward. You grab the dice and roll, frowning as you move your iron four spaces...Right on to the one property Dave had two hotels on. “Fuck.” You mutter as you begin collecting the money you needed to give to Dave. “Well, yeah, but come on! Don’t you think she would have been here by now? Rose likes these get-togethers just as much as the rest of us, she wouldn’t be _this_ late.”

Jade takes the dice while you’re still counting the money. “John, I’m sure she’s trying best she can. Besides, wouldn’t her mom tell us if Rose went missing?”

“Not if she’s panicked and trying to look for her! You know Rose’s mom, she’s probably drowning in alcohol and crying.”

“Then her girlfriend would have. Honestly, John, it couldn’t have happened!” Eleven. She grins as she begins moving her Scottie dog the correct number of squares, only for her face to fall when she lands on the same space you’re on. “Oh _come on_!” She shouts angrily, staring at Dave’s two hotels, standing proud. “ _Fuck you_ , Strider!”

“Hey, I can’t help it if I’m the best goddamn entrepreneur in this room. Cough up the cash, Harley.”

“I am going to _bulldoze_ your hotels.”

“Ooooh, looks like some lady’s gonna get one hell of a lawsuit.”

She growls and begins counting up the money. Dave laughs and grabs the dice.

You wish you could be having as much fun as them, but you can’t. Rose was in trouble! Or at least, you were pretty sure she was. How could they be fighting over Monopoly when one of their friends could be in danger? _Possibly_ in danger. “Come on guys, this is serious! I know it sounds stupid, but we haven’t heard from Rose in a while and--”

“John, let it go, already.” Jade mutters as she tosses Dave the multicolored money. “There’s no possible way that--”

Jade’s phone begins ringing.

You shoot her a look, but she snaps, “This means nothing!” and picks up the phone. After a few ‘uh-huh’s and ‘oh, really?’s, the conversation is put to an end. “Uh, yeah. I’ll--I’ll be sure to tell you if I find out anything. Thanks, Kanaya.” She hangs up and immediately bites her thumbnail. “ _Oh_ boy.”

Dave tilts his head back and groans. “Don’t you _dare_ say--”

“That--That was Kanaya. Rose has...Rose went missing and neither of them can find her.”

“ _Fuck_.” Dave says loudly. “Great. Just fuckin’ great--You mean to say that John was _right_ about all this comic book bullshit?”

Jade shrugs halfheartedly. “It--It’s a possibility.”

Dave groans yet again. “So you mean we’re part of this bullshit now. All aboard the goddamn bullshit train, population three, destination a fucking comic book.” He shakes his head at the insanity going on around him. “I am _not_ putting up with this.”

“Dave, Rose went _missing_! Kanaya just _said_ so!” You insist, frowning. “Where else could she have gone?”

“She drowned in one of those coin-fountain things. Freak gondola accident. I don’t know, but _not_ a fucking comic book!” He looks over to Jade, expecting her to back him up. She’s just biting her thumbnail in worry and gives a look to Dave, showing that she, indeed, was going to hop onto the bullshit train. “Jade, you have got to be kidding me right now.”

“Well...I--I don’t know where she would be, but...Come on, she _would_ try out a demon ritual tied to a comic book--”

“Am I the only sane one here!?” Dave stands up, crossing his arms. “You know what? Fine. I’ll humor you, if _only_ to prove that you’re both being fucking crazy right now. John. Do you know what the freaky demon ritual is?”

You pause, thinking. “Uh, yeah, I think Rose mentioned it.”

“Good. What do we need? Blood of the innocent? Who do we need to kill, virgins? Pentagrams! Anything?”

“Uh...Just some _normal_ stuff. Crow feather, twig, cat hair...Tear...Uh, and some of your own hair, and then you burn it.”

“Okay. Fine. Let’s go.” He walks to the front door, picking up one of the hunting rifles you left by the door when you all came in. “Well? Come on. We’re doing demon rituals today!”

You and Jade slowly get up and get your own rifles. Jade whistles, and Bec is right at your side. She throws open the door and you all go out in search of cats and crows, all splitting up when the work has been divvied out (with Jade on cat duty, Dave on crow, and you on everything else).

Finding a twig wasn’t so hard. Literally you walked three steps and there was a nice twig right there. You pick it up, content, and go off to find the others.

There’s a few gunshots, and Dave emerges from the forest with a black feather pinched between two fingers. “Okay, got that taken care of. Thank God this island has a few _normal_ animals. You seen Jade?”

You shake your head, but as you do there’s another flurry of gunshots. Well, only one person that could be. You two run off after the sound, finding Jade standing above a dead...Jungle cat? It was an albino and didn’t exactly look like any animal you’ve seen before, but it does indeed look feline enough for it’s fur to qualify as ‘cat hair’. She leans forward and pets it a few times, and in a moment she has a decent bit of fur on her hand. “This guy sheds like crazy.” She mutters, and upon seeing the two of you have your things, you all disembark back to the house. Jade reasons that she could bring the cat in to be stuffed later.

Jade goes off to get a bowl to burn this stuff in while you get a scissors. You cut off a bit of your own hair, then Dave’s (he says he could have cut his _own_ hair, but you ignore him), and when Jade comes back, a bit of her’s, too.

Now there’s only the matter of the tear. Dave immediately suggests a clothespin on your balls, but you loudly object to _that_ idea. You want to cry, not _punch_ someone. You finally get a tear out of you when Jade socks you in the nose, and she takes off her glasses and catches it on the lens.

“What was _that_ for?” You snap at her, holding your nose.

“We needed a tear, and I wanted to get it quickly. Now come on!” She pushes the Monopoly stuff aside with her foot and sets down the bowl. “Okay. Now, let’s do this.”

Dave puts in the crow feather. Then the twig and the cat hair get tossed in. Jade slides the tear off the lens of her glasses and when it’s safely in the bowl she puts them back on. Then you sprinkle all the hair into the bowl and pause, looking at the bowl of stuff in front of you. “Uh, we need a lighter.”

Dave reaches into a back pocket and pulls one out. It’s best not to question why he has a lighter on him. He lights the stuff and there’s a pause as you all watch it. Well, this was it. “Repeat after me.” You say, and then, “Tall Jake, take me away.”

Dave does not think this is a good demon ritual, and he says as much, but Jade quickly snaps the second “Tall Jake, take me away!”, and he shuts up and grumbles “Tall Jake, take me away.” while rolling his eyes.

“Tall Jake, take me away.” You say.

“Tall Jake, take me away.” Jade is in sync with you that time.

“Tall Jake, take me away!” Now Dave is with the two of you, and you hush them up, since you really only needed to do it six times. And good thing, too. The fire ran out of fuel and flickered out.

You all wait a moment, the smell of burning hair hanging in the air. When nothing seems to happen, Jade hops up and picks up the bowl, about to rinse it out…

...When the lights go out.

You screech and Dave slaps you. “John, the light bulb burned out, stop being a goddamn pussy.” He scolds, and you hear him get up, too. “You can get the lights back on, huh, Harley?”

“Of course, Dave. This is _my house_.” There the small sound of a bowl getting set down and Jade goes off, her footfalls even, and you hear her slowly go down the stairs.

You and Dave stay quiet in the living room. It’s strange, it couldn’t be later than four in the afternoon, but it seemed dark out. The light coming from the living room windows was muffled, by curtains and by something outside. After a long while Dave sighs, shaking his head. “Girl can’t work the electric shit.” He mutters, beginning to walk after her.

You lunge and grab his arm. “Don’t _leave_ me in here!”

“John, stop it.” He brushes your hands off of him. “You’re gonna feel really goddamn stupid when the lights come back on and no demons are around.” He snickers and goes off, hopping down the stairs after Jade. “Don’t worry Harley, there is a man in this house!”

And then he’s gone and you’re alone.

You swallow, looking around the living room. Your eyes are slowly getting adjusted to the lack of light in the room, and now you can sort of make out shapes. There was the Monopoly board, all mussed up from when Jade kicked it aside. There was the sofa. And there was the television! See, this wasn’t so bad. There’s the door, there’s the rifles, there’s the man that--

Wait what the fuck!?

It was only for a second, but didn’t you just see someone? Someone in the small corner between the door and the hallway going into the kitchen? Someone...Someone very, very tall?

No...No, you couldn’t have. It was dark, you were probably seeing just a...A hatstand. Yeah. A hatstand. That’s what you saw. You remember the hatstand, actually, you had came into the house and you--

Jade didn’t own a hatstand. _Nobody_ owned a hatstand.

So...So who was that!?

“...Dave? Jade?” You ask weakly, knowing full well that if they were in the basement, they wouldn’t be able to hear you. You slowly back up, looking back to that corner again. The tall man isn’t there. S-see John? You just imagined it. That’s right. _Imagined_ it. There wasn’t anyone here! Just you and Dave and Jade and Rose was going to be okay and this was going to be fine, fine, _fine_ , _fine_ …

Dave and Jade don’t hear you scream bloody murder. But not because they were in the basement. If they were in the basement, they would have been able to hear you fine.

 

~

 

“John.”

It was really comfy right here. You’re glad Jade’s room has such nice carpets. So soft. You could sleep here forever.

“John!”

Ugh, that was Jade. She wanted you to get up. “Mmmph, five more minutes…” You grumble in your half-awake daze, rolling over--

And falling onto something hard.

That wakes you up. You sit up with a start and find yourself at the bottom of some seats. Jade’s sitting on one of them, biting her thumbnail and generally looking worried, while Dave is also sitting and looking a wee bit pissed off. “Oh, you’re up.” He says, frowning, and gestures around. “Welcome to the bullshit train! Glad you could make it.”

You stand. It is, indeed, a train. Slowly, you take a seat by Jade and Dave. “Where...You actually mean that--!?”

“Yep!” Dave does another grand gesture around. “Turns out, that demon summoning shit worked! Went into the basement to look for miss _useless_ here--” He elbows Jade, who growls a bit-- “And next thing I know, bam. Bullshit train, chugging along at the speed of fuck this. You were right, John. You told me so! Evil comic books are a thing. Who knew, right? What else is a thing now? Do you mean to tell me if I go into a bakery I could be attacked by a ninjadead man? I’d totally buy that! I’ll make a tiramisu in that same goddamn bakery and it’ll become a hot man with glasses and a trenchcoat and shit! I don’t know! And then tiramisu man and the ninjadead man fight to the death. Yeah. That’s gonna happen now, because evil comic books are a thing. Thanks John, now pastries are going to kill each other.”

Yeah, you’re not sure what Dave’s going on about. You take a glance out the train window, trying to figure out what the outside world looks like. You can’t. You sigh and look back. Dave is still going on about nothing, about demons and wizards and how those are a thing now because evil comic books are. It’s not that you don’t like his voice (it’s a nice voice!), you just sort of wish he’d be quiet so all of you could really absorb what just happened. You were here, in Malice, with your best friends and potential love interest. That was...Weird. You had to look for Rose. She had to be in here, right? Somewhere, anyway. How big was this place?

The train grinds to a halt. Suddenly there’s a conductor there, opening the door, in a big coat and a face that just possesses black beady eyes and a lopsided black oval of a mouth, like a mask. “Last stop. Everyone out.”

The three of you get up and slowly make your way to the door. “Uh, sir,” Jade says, “Where...Where are we?”

“The Menagerie. Everyone off.” The conductor says.

You all step off and take in the Menagerie.

Here you all were. In Malice. Jade steps ahead of you, walking cautiously.

“Hey, I wonder if they have bathrooms here.” Dave says loudly.

Yup, here in Malice with your _best_ friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, so we actually updated this fic???? What??? It's magic! They're finally in Malice, so yay! Or well, not yay since Malice isn't a cool place. Next chapter will be in Rose's perspective so we can see how she's faring in the Malice world. Cool. So please comment, kudos, and bookmark if you enjoy the fic! Also, if you also read our other fic, Heartbeat, that will also be updated soon. Also we're writing another fic, so be on the lookout for that! Later!
> 
> -JaysNarnia

**Author's Note:**

> We left off on a cliffhanger since this is a prologue after all! Please comment, kudos, and bookmark this fic! We do enjoy hearing feedback from our readers. Our other fan-fiction Heartbeat will be updated soon, so do not fear! See you all soon!  
> -JaysNarnia


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